Fourth London Mandolin Festival 2012

The theme for the Fourth London Mandolin Festival on 20 May 2012 was Nice & Easy and involved a light-hearted musical journey which we hoped would guarantee a smile. All works were performed by the combined mandolin orchestra unless otherwise specified.

Michelle Nelson

Zupf Earth

Nelson is a teacher, composer and performer, equally at home on both classical and electric guitars. She was guitar leader in the Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra. Anna Langley, our principal mandolinist, requested Nelson to write this piece for a mass orchestra during her stay in Cambridge. This piece will be premiered in the UK at the 2012 LMF concert.

Ernest Gillet

(1856 - 1940)

Loin du Bal

(Echoes of the Ball)

A dramatic and beautiful waltz common in the London BMG ensemble repertoire. With Under Sydney Skies, LMO performed these two pieces in the biennial 2012 British BMG Federation rally held in March. Gillet was a french cellist and composer. This work was originally written for bowed string orchestra (with violins) but transfers well to plucked string orchestra.

Konrad Wolki

(1904 - 1983)

Suite No. 2 for Plucked String OrchestraMusic for Light Celebration

Wolki is a German composer from Berlin. Wolki wrote many works for mandolin in three different periods - symphonic writing in the 20s including winds and percussion, a neo-classical period from the mid 30s and then modernizing from the 50s. This piece was written during Wolki's neo classical period in 1937 where he wrote lighter pieces and differentiated the use of tremolo and detached notes.

Robert Schulz

(1950 - )

Divertimento

Anna Langley and Catherine Taylor on Mandolin and Stelios Christodoulou on Guitar

Shulz is founder and conductor of the West Australian Mandolin Orchestra (WAMO). Divertimento from italian means to amuse where the mood is lighthearted. The trio performed this piece at the British BMG Federation rally held last March and won 3rd place.

Valentin Roeser

(1735 - 1782)

Sonata 6 - 'A Grand Orchestre'

Roeser was a German composer and clarinettist. A stately piece played in the baroque style.

Georg Matthias Monn

(1717 - 1750)

Symphonia in G Major

Monn was an Austrian, composer, organist and music teacher. Monn was part of a school of Austrian composers forcing the change from the complex and showy Baroque style to the looser, graceful and simpler Galante music.

John Peterson

(1957 - )

Under Sydney Skies

(On Crests of Waves)

A contemporary piece commissioned by the Federation of Australasian Mandolin Ensembles (FAME) for first performance by the combined mandolin orchestra at the International Mandolin Festival held in Sydney 6 - 13 January 2008. Peterson’s music generally reflects his interest in tonal idioms as well as the energy and rhythmic propulsion inherent in many popular music styles. We first performed this in 2009 and are playing it again at the popular request of the players

Orlando Gough

(1953 - )

Traditional Values, Movement 1 - The Kettle is the Answer

Gough was commissioned to compose this piece for Making Music specifically for the Olympic Games and has been made available to all Making Music groups. At the 2012 British BMG Federation rally in March, the mass orchestra event brought together players from all over the UK to be part of the official premiere. The Kettle is the Answer is a fun piece mocking the British favourite drink - tea. Orlando Gough is an Oxford educated British composer and has been commissioned to compose several choir and orchestral works.

Alfonso Montes

(1955 - )

Preludio de Adios

Amy Bowles on guitar

Montes was born in Venezuela and studied music in Caracas and London. His music is deeply in the Venezuelan tradition but influenced by his time in England and Germany. Preludio de Adios is a very light yet haunting piece. As well as performing, Bowles teaches guitar at several schools and colleges.

Bruno Szordikowski

(1944 - )

Celtic Fairies - A Celtic Suite

The arranger, Bruno Szordikowski is a classical guitar composer and guitar teacher at the Mälheim school of music in Germany. This piece is a collection of well known morris dancing tunes including La Portsmouth, Sailors Hornpipe, King of the Fairies, and Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye. This is a chance to get up and dance or sing along to a mandolin orchestra.

Wilhelm Mohr

(1904 - 1989)

Die Specknerin - Old English Dances to the Sound ofAnna Barbara Speckners Cembalo

As the name suggests, this piece is a collection of Old English Contradances inspired by the musical style of cembalo player Anna Barbara Speckner. The pieces are not specifically named. We are performing movements I, II, IV, V, VI, IX and XII.

This year's concert presented a balanced
programme of music which was great fun to listen
to, and certainly looked fun to play. One highlight
was the premiere of Zupferde by Australian
composer Michelle Nelson, a lovely composition
served well by the orchestra under Steve Smith's
leadership. There was a lot to enjoy, beautifully
controlled tremolo swells, a great moment where
the double bass picks up the tune, and very light
and accurate solo interjections from first mandolin.

Throughout, the players created a light sound that
filled the church, and showcased some very tight
playing from all sections in performances of light
classical and neo-classical pieces such as Konrad
Wolki's Music for Light Celebration. I heard
audience members talking about the wonderful
mandolin orchestra, and of course mandolincentrics
like me can easily forget that it is no such
thing; the middle section of the orchestra – guitars
and mandolas – always provide a backbone to the
music. In this context it was nice to see the guitar
showcased a few times.

A wonderful trio of players from the Moonlight
Mandolins performed Robert Schulz's Divertimento,
with Stelios Christodoulou on guitar and Anna
Langley and Catherine Taylor on mandolin. This
pretty piece showed just how well the guitar and
mandolin combine to produce captivating music.
Amy Bowles then played Alfonso Montes' Preludio
de Adios, a performance that poured a light and
haunting melody over the audience.

The orchestra's rendition of Georg Monn's
Symphonia in G Major was....um... symphonic;
they played together powerfully and created a
sound that belied both the size of the orchestra
and instruments. As a final ‘pre-encore’ piece, the
suite of Celtic tunes by Bruno Szordikowski was
well chosen and given a lively rendition; if the
audience is clapping along it's usually a good sign.

This was a wonderfully entertaining concert
from an orchestra that will go from strength to
strength, and is a tribute to the commitment of all
concerned; well done, I will see you next year!